 The Clarinet BBoard
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Author: Jean Adler
Date: 2002-03-14 03:28
I bought a 10 pack of Marca, Pete Fountain reeds today, 2 1/2 strength. I like the sound I am getting but find the tips are too thin. Has anyone else tried this brand? I had never tried this brand before and hadn't seen a strength comparison chart on them. I know of a teacher who burns the tips of his reeds to make them stronger. Has anyone else heard of this technique? Any thoughts on what I can do to these reeds? The sound is huge but I fear the reeds won't last very long. I seem to recall my dad had a reed trimmer many years ago. I am thinking I may want to try threes (actually that would have been my first choice) but the store only had 2 1/2's.
Thanks in advance for your suggestions,
Jean
My setup is this: Rossi clarinet, Richard Hawkins mouthpiece, Joie Jolie ligature, Pardon the spelling on that one, I am too lazy to grab my clarinet and look at it. Besides, my middle aged eyes probably couldn't make it out anyway.
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Author: bob gardner
Date: 2002-03-14 04:23
I received a couple of these reeds at clarinetfest last year and have been very pleased with them. I would try them for a while before trying to change them. How do you know how long they will last until you give them a fair trial.
peace
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-03-14 04:24
Leblanc was handing out samples of the Marca/Pete Fountain reeds this summer at the New Orleans Clarinetfest.
On first try, they did seem to blow relatively free, producing a relatively large sound. The thin tip of the reed did trouble me.
As suspected, their useful life was very short (even with careful break in and prep).
I would catagorize them as an average mid priced reed - in the same class as Mitchell Lurie and Rico Royal...GBK
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Author: JMcAulay
Date: 2002-03-14 04:49
Jean, you reminded me of a colleague many years ago who would take a too-soft reed, place it on a coin (I can't remember if it was a quarter or half-dollar -- who sees those any more?), hold the tip barely over the coin's edge, and scorch the reed tip with a cigarette lighter. He claimed that was batter than clipping it off. Said it made the reed last longer. I had not thought of that in a very long time, always thought he was a bit nuts, and never expected to see or hear of anyone else doing the same thing. Seems like I was wrong. Wonder if anyone else does it?
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Author: GBK
Date: 2002-03-14 04:56
John...The scorcing off the tip was (as I remember it) shown to me as a "band director's quick fix" to student's reeds.
I was never able to master it - must be because of my clumsiness with open flames (being a non smoker)...GBK
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Author: willie
Date: 2002-03-14 05:16
The trick with the coin is to find a coin that has the same curve on its circumferus as the tip of the reed, or better yet, the tip of the mouthpiece you're using it on. With U. S. coins, the quarter or half doller (can still get them at the bank) will work fine for a Bb soprano reed. I sandwich the reed between two coins to keep from burning too much.
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Author: Wes
Date: 2002-03-14 05:21
There is a reed burner item that, made from sheet metal, will allow one to burn off clarinet, alto sax, and tenor sax reeds. It is round with three protrusions, 120 degrees from each other, for the respective reeds. I have one here but rarely see it.
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Author: graham
Date: 2002-03-14 08:08
I have some of the ordinary black box Marcas. They have a bigger sound envelope than Zonda or Glotin, but a streak of roughness at the centre of the sound. But I played a concert on one of them on Monday in the hope of a slightly better blend of tone with the other player. I think it may have worked, but there will be a recording to check the outcome. I suspect I have to get used to their effect on throat note intonation which I thought was a problem. I cannot yet say how long the reed would last. I am using 3.5 strength.
I also bought a box of Marca Bass Clarinet reeds, strength 3, and used one in the same concert. This was very promising, and I have hopes this will be my staple reed for bass, since my old stock of Buffet Prestige reeds is running out and I had not found an alternative I liked as much. I suggest bass players give these a try. They have a nice "bark" in the lower register.
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Author: David Spiegelthal
Date: 2002-03-14 13:38
I've been using Marca reeds on bass clarinet for years, and I like them also. Generally they don't play well for me right out of the box, they need a fair bit of tweaking (which I normally do anyway), but then they play well and last a long time.
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Author: Jean Adler
Date: 2002-03-14 14:37
I tried the burning technique. Even though the curvature didn't turn out real well the reed plays much better. I tried a quarter but think maybe a smaller coin may work better.
Jean
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